It's a cold afternoon, with winds blowing in from everywhere. I'm huddled in the Pokemon Center, listening to the steady dings and whirrs of the machine.

She returns my Pokeballs within fifteen minutes, although it could've easily been a year. I notice with dread that she only brings out five. "Where's Kimiko's Pokeball?" I ask accusingly, sending out the rest of my team.

"The sixth one?" she asks in her extremely annoying voice. Nurses are honestly the peppiest and most annoying people on this planet. "That was deactivated. Was there an accident? You were overworking it, weren't you?"

I swell with rage, almost blindingly hot. "I DIDN'T OVERWORK HIM! HOW DO YOU KNOW HE'S NOT STILL OKAY? WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY POKEMON, YOU STUPID PINK VALLEY GIRL?"

The surrounding people, casually enjoying themselves, suddenly look up shocked. I can almost imagine electricity crackling within me, but the absence of it makes me feel hollow. The dark, empty pit within me is filled with anger and loss. I've seen too much for so little already. I remember dying myself. There may be no second chances for my Pokemon. Breathing in and out, the tears well up in my eyes, sizzling down my red cheeks.

The nurse grabs me by my shirt, almost choking me, and smiles a grin worthy of a Gengar. "Listen, bitch, I heal your Pokemon. If you can't take care of them, I'll be out of a job. So unless you want to be reported and banned from the centers, you'll shut up and do what I ask."

I growl at her, a guttural sound that makes me seem more Pokemon than human. For a second, I feel like I'm about to explode with the energy I can't control, until she squeaks with unexpected pain.

There, in the window, is Rune, twirling his wand and blowing sparks off it like it's a hot pistol.

Get out here already, I hear in my mind. I can't tell if it's an effect of being a Goldeneye, or possibly some psychic ability. Regardless, I take the cue and run out the door.

"So where are we going to heal up now?" Juliet asks.

"I don't know or care." I say, still shuddering from the hatred and pure rage building up in me, now turning to grief like clouds covering a sunny sky.

"We're not going back to grind, are we?" asks Dusty, terrified. I shake my head solemnly.

I walk back to the route, hand trembling, and there at the start of the road is the corpse. Kimiko's body is burned by something, blank eyes and a smile on his face while blood seeps out from the corner of it.

I knew it was coming, but something in me refused to think he was dead until I saw the body. Now it's undeniable. I pick him up, cradling him, and say softly, "We need to bury him in the cave."

The trip back is long and hard with a stubborn and indignant Rhyhorn but the Pokemon are still few and nothing dares to attack us. I bury him by his family, covering the grave with a small stone. Rune engraves it with ash-coated lettering- "To Kimiko, voice of the voiceless, defender of the defenseless. He will guard this cave forever."

I try to choke back a whimpering sob upon reading it, but Rune holds me. "It's okay.

Crypt is absentmindedly chewing on gemstones, and the Sableye are now leering at us, so I decide it's time to leave. With Pich attacking from the air, we get back with as little disturbance as is humanly possible.

We stop into the Pokemon Center late night incognito, hoping that Nurse Joy doesn't see us. I open my PC and withdraw Juliet.

The familiar click of her ears on the Pokedex as she types away about her newest experiences in the PC is a reassuring sound, as if the void left by Kimiko was never there. I listen to it as I fall asleep at the hotel, click click, tap tap, click, click.

She knows I'm awake.

"More nightmares?"

"It's a rock type gym, Juliet. We have no way of beating it without him. Rune's my strongest and he's fire-type."

"I looked up all the info. For most of it, Chrona can bulldoze everything, if you work with her on powering up that Razor Leaf. Then there's the problem of back up... Crypt's too little, he can barely talk and has just been revived. Definitely not him."

"You're a ground type." I point out. "If you evolved, maybe..."

She looks up from her typing, eyes boring into my own. She fixes me an intense stare, and with a look of disgust, says plainly, "No."

I go back to lying down, listening to her click-tap on the Pokedex.

The nightmares hit me before I even fall asleep, after all, I'm living in one.